the story behind the tax story

Once in a while, there comes a story that is picked up by the wires, the television media and the populist lawmakers.

The proposed 2,600 percent increase in taxes of public utility vehicles is one such story. There were only three reporters who broke the story -- Lawrence of Manila Standard, Mitch of Inquirer and myself and we're quite proud. It came out on the front pages of our newspapers and was followed up by other media the day after.

As of the moment, it has been put on hold amid vehement protests from transport groups.

Personally, I'm happy the regulation has been put on hold. For sure, there are other ways that the government can look into to raise revenues. The problem of corruption at the BIR, for instance, seems to be falling on deaf ears.